Soundbar subwoofer dead?

[yadnom]

Just wondering if anyone know if this subwoofer is dead or there is anything I can try.

I have an LG soundbar with a wireless subwoofer and it had been working fine for a few years. A few days ago I noticed that my sound was off as I wasn't getting any of the low subwoofer sound. I checked and the sub still pairs wirelessly with the soundbar but there isn't really any sound coming out unless I turn the volume all the way up. I tried moving the sub around to a different location in case there was some kind of interference with the wireless sub but it still wasn't working right. I then noticed that if I slightly push down on the speaker cone that it will actually seem to work and sound okay even at lower levels. Any ideas on whats going on?

 

[Krispy Kritter]

Sounds like the speaker (coil) has failed. Otherwise, touching the speaker would have no impact.

 

[yadnom]

Sounds like the speaker (coil) has failed. Otherwise, touching the speaker would have no impact.

Thanks. I've been doing some more research and reading on speakers and it looks like that's most likely the issue. I'm going to take it apart in the next few days to see what it looks like, but I'm guessing its time to buy a new system.

 

[westrock2000]

If you have a multimeter (you might be able to get one for free from harbor Freight with a coupon), you can get access to the back of the subwoofers driver/speaker. The actual driver. Remove the two wires connecting to it and use the ohms feature of the multimeter to measure the resistance between the two terminals (red/black or +/-) on the driver. You should see anywhere from 2-8 ohms. If you get no reading or OL or something it means that the voice coil has a break in it, or one of the leads from the terminal to the voice coil is broken.

 

[yadnom]

If you have a multimeter (you might be able to get one for free from harbor Freight with a coupon), you can get access to the back of the subwoofers driver/speaker. The actual driver. Remove the two wires connecting to it and use the ohms feature of the multimeter to measure the resistance between the two terminals (red/black or +/-) on the driver. You should see anywhere from 2-8 ohms. If you get no reading or OL or something it means that the voice coil has a break in it, or one of the leads from the terminal to the voice coil is broken.

Thanks. I did try to get into the woofer but it was screwed and glued/epoxied in so I was not able to actually pull the driver out. I would probably need to destroy the box to take it out. After pushing the cone around it seems to be working fine again now so there is probably some break somewhere. I'll probably leave it as is until it stops working again, then may look at ripping it out or just replacing the sound bar.

 

[westrock2000]

Thanks. I did try to get into the woofer but it was screwed and glued/epoxied in so I was not able to actually pull the driver out. I would probably need to destroy the box to take it out. After pushing the cone around it seems to be working fine again now so there is probably some break somewhere. I'll probably leave it as is until it stops working again, then may look at ripping it out or just replacing the sound bar.

Is there a plate on the back or something you can take off to get access to the insides?

 

[yadnom]

Is there a plate on the back or something you can take off to get access to the insides?

There is a plate in the back to protect the mainboard, but it sits in its own little seperate chamber so there is no access to the driver.

 

[Trimlock]

Interesting that you can't even get to the back of the driver. My guess is voice coil too but it could also be the spider. Granted if it's the spider it would work somewhat until it really needs the suspension.

If it's the voice coil I'd throw the whole thing out, it's not worth it to recone them plus I don't think you could get a repair kit it anyways.

 

[p_monks33]

If you can get the faceplate off, you may be able to find a cheap replacement sub online, or you can toss the whole get up, and use it as an excuse to try out a new dolby atmos soundbar.